Here are the books that make an impression on me staring at this week's no-doubt largely accurate list of books shipping from Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. to comic book and hobby shops across North America.

I might not buy all of the works listed here. I might not buy any. You never know. I'd sure look at the following, though.

*****

JAN131096 UNICO GN $34.95
I'll walk back any and all confusion I have about name publishers -- even minor name publishers -- working through crowd-funding tools if it means that we get the occasional handsome-looking, full-color Osamu Tezuka book. This isn't work with which I'm at all familiar, but it's awfully cute looking, and Tezuka's pages are almost always a joy in one way or the other just in terms of the visual language and staging he employs.

OCT120439 BRINGING UP FATHER HC VOL 02 CABBAGES & KINGS $49.99JAN120420 WILL EISNER SPIRIT ARTIST ED HC PIDEC120503 STEVE CANYON HC VOL 03 1951-1952 $49.99
It's only my inability to keep things on the brain for more than a few minutes at a time that keeps me from declaring this The Greatest Week In IDW Publishing History, what with three archival volumes to die for. I quite enjoy Bringing Up Father the more that I read it, the Artist Editions series always yields positive results, and I quite enjoy the first ten years or so of Steve Canyon whenever I encounter it.

FEB130027 1 FOR $1 MIND MGMT #1 $1.00DEC120059 MIND MGMT HC VOL 01 $19.99
I like the idea of releasing $1 promotional issues at the same time as a collection; I would buy the one-dollar version for sure were I still a frequent comics-shop patron.

JAN130325 TINY TITANS TP VOL 08 AW YEAH TITANS $12.99
DC's best and most consistent comics offering over the last 15 years was the Tiny Titans effort partly collected here. Every parent I know that has given them to a kid has reported back to me with positives, and that's not always the case with any comic book let alone one with as aggressive a baseline as kid superhero books.

FEB130461 SAGA #12 (MR) [DIG] $2.99FEB130463 SEX #2 (MR) [DIG] $2.99FEB130179 CONSTANTINE #2 $2.99FEB130477 AGE OF ULTRON #5 $3.99OCT120680 SECRET SERVICE #6 (MR) $4.99JAN130720 HAWKEYE #9 $2.99
This is an interesting book of genre comics in the classic comic book format. The Saga was banned for distribution by one of the Apple services, which is horrifically stupid but puts a great deal of focus on that title. The first issue of the Joe Casey-written Sex intrigued me for its pacing and evocation of 1980s independent comics. I thought the first issue of the revamped John Constantine vehicle Constantine was pretty awful, but I bet it had its fans; it's interesting to watch that roll-out from a mainstream perspective given how little magic-using characters seem to matter in those universes anymore. We see the latest issue of the current Marvel event and the last issue of the latest Mark Millar effort, already in heavy pre-production for a film. Finally, Hawkeye is the most reliable of the well-crafted superhero comics on the stands right now.

JAN131012 VALERIAN GN VOL 01 CITY OF SHIFTING WATERS $11.95
I'm a big fan of Jean-Claude Mezieres -- and writer Pierre Christin, for that matter -- so translated work from the old days (early 1970s Pilote comics) is something that would get me to the comics shop to take a look, no matter what.

OCT121084 EC JACK DAVIS TAINT MEAT ITS HUMANITY HC $28.99OCT121087 EC WILLIAMSON 50 GIRLS 50 & OTHER STORIES HC $28.99
If you stop and think about, the fact that some people are excited about getting into these organized-by-artist volume because they have little to no exposure to those works and the fact that other people are complaining about the size and some of the scanning issues while standing around at cons means that these comics still matter, at least to hardcore fans. I think they look great, and I enjoy these comics for what they are as opposed to how they were seen in the miserable context of 1950s mainstream comic books. I'd buy the Williamson before the Davis, but I think most people I know prefer the Davis.

*****

The full list of this week's releases, including some titles with multiple cover variations and a long, impressive list of toys and other stuff that isn't comics, can be found here. Despite this official list there's no guarantee a comic will show up in the stores as promised, or in all of the stores as opposed to just a few. Also, stores choose what they carry and don't carry so your shop may not carry a specific publication. There are a lot of comics out there.

To find your local comic book store, check this list; and for one I can personally recommend because I've shopped there, albeit a while back, try this.

The above titles are listed with their Diamond order code in the first field, which may assist you in finding comics at your shop or having them order something for you they don't have in-stock. Ordering through a direct market shop can be a frustrating experience, so if you have a direct line to something -- you know another shop has it, you know a bookstore has it -- I'd urge you to consider all of your options.